Features

Engelbert Schmid Wagnertubas

Engelbert Schmid Wagnertubas represent a revolutionary new development, which puts an end to decades of compromises.

Intonation:

They are in tune like a good horn.

Sound:

They sound like a Wagner Tuba should sound. In a way strange, mystic, not too round, not too much euphoniumlike. A bit deeper mouthpiece than for the horn suits most players best for a Wagner Tuba.

Response:

Clear and fast. There are no bad notes.

Feeling:

A Wagner tuba needs more air than a horn and it is harder to control the intonation in fortissimo. The difference to a horn is cleary decreased with an Engelbert Schmid Wagner Tuba. The horn player feels comfortable immediately.

Machine:

Facility and slurs are as good as with an Engelbert Schmid Horn. These tubas are technically so versatile, that they will find their way into brass ensembles. Compared with the horn the thicker sound of the Wagner tuba blends very well with these relatively loud ensembles and is able to mellow the shrill dominance of the trumpets. A brass quintett could form a tuba trio, or the quintett could be enlarged to a sextett by a second horn player/Wagner Tuba player.

Holding:

he left hand grasps the first branch of the Wagner tuba which has approximately the same diameter as the grip on a horn. Thumb and main levers have the same position as on a horn. The mouthpipe is bent in a way so not to have to stretch the head upwards. The whole instrument is ergonomically balanced and you can see the conductor, as well. The resulting bell direction has more advantages than disadvantages.

In some cases, depending upon the position on stage or in the pit, you might have to experiment in order to find a new, better sitting order. The recommended position shown in the following tab "Seating order"

Original Engelbert Schmid Mouthpieces

There a four widths to meet the individual lip sizes. For each rim width there are six cups,- shallow, medium shallow, medium, medium deep, deep and extra deep, in order to achieve a brighter or darker sound, an easier high register or a more voluminous low register. Usually Engelbert Schmid mouthpieces are used with the original bore. For individual needs sometimes it´s an advantage to drill out the bore for one or two tenths of a millimeter. In this case the curve of the cup has to be adjusted.

A new development in Engelbert Schmid mouthpieces: digitally produced mouthpieces

The traditional mouthpiece production is done by copying a hand made example with tools that have to be repeatedly sharpened.
Although the sample may be very good, it is not possible to get a perfect copy of the curvature by hand. There will also be a certain tolerance due to the necessity of repeatedly sharpening the tools.
The traditional Original or Model Engelbert Schmid mouthpieces that exist since 1981 are made with utmost care from samples that were made by hand by Engelbert Schmid himself.

This very successful series of mouthpieces will be continued, with only two minor improvements:

The shaft is now a uniform taper between Morse and metric so that they fit in just about any mouthpipe.

Exact geometric research show the necessity of increasing the bore by 2/10 mm at each step from shallow, through semi shallow, middle, semi deep, deep and extra deep.

The future in producing the acoustically important pieces of a horn from the mouthpiece to the bell is in introducing the use of electronics. Engelbert Schmid has determined the ideal curvature for the mouthpieces 4 to 15.5. In addition the long planned mouthpieces Nr. 1 - 3.5 in the Viennese type are now ready. These funnel shaped mouthpieces are available from shallow to extra deep. Viennese mouthpieces are generally very deep. For example the Nr. 2.0 (middle for Viennese standards) is comparable to Nr. 9.0 (deep) of the German standards. For a fourth horn player outside of Vienna the Nr. 2.5 (semi deep, Viennese standard) will be deep enough. The funnel mouthpieces can be beneficial for horn players who tend to have too bright of a sound. The bore of the funnel mouthpieces are, in general, larger which can cause more noise in the sound with certain lips.

The ideal curvatures have been digitalized and the mouthpieces will be produced with wear free tools so that the mouthpieces will stay the same for all time. By the way normal digital copying lathes also copy all the small imperfections in the sample and add their own. The digital production of ES mouthpieces has nothing to do with existing digital copying lathes!

The exact geometric measurement of the mouthpieces has lead to minor changes in the digital versions:

The rim is now perfectly comfortable, as Engelbert Schmid had always imagined it.

The mouthpieces now have a uniform cup wall thickness of 1,7 mm, which has a positive influence on the way the mouthpieces vibrates. You now see from the outside the shape of the cup.

The steps in the bore from shallow to deep have to increase 2/10mm. The traditional mouthpieces will also have this change.

The steps in the cup depth have been evenly divided. Shallow, semi shallow, and deep are approximately the same as the traditional cup depth. Middle and semi deep were a bit deeper than logical.

That means the digital mouthpieces middle and semi deep are a bit shallower than before. You may have to go one half step deeper than before to get the sound you prefer.
The advantage of the digital mouthpieces lies in the increased efficiency and the ability to make perfect copies.

To choose your mouthpiece follow these steps:

Decide about your rim width.

Listen to your sound with the medium cup, i.e. with No. 2, No. 5, No. 8, No. 11 or No. 14. If you wish a brighter sound try the next shallower cup, or if you wish a darker sound , try the next deeper cup.

Usually Engelbert Schmid mouthpieces are used with the original bore. For individual needs sometimes its an advantage to drill out the bore for one or two tenths of a millimeter. In this case the curve of the cup has to be adjusted again.